1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



809 



son had been used in spraj'ing- fruit-bloom, 

 and immediatel}' made inquir}*. All par- 

 ties denied spraying", yet I found that one 

 had purchased a fruit-sprayer and had 

 sprayed his trees at that time, even though 

 he denied doing so. However, I made a 

 public announcement that the part3'or par- 

 ties who killed my bees by spraying his 

 fruit during the time of bloom would also 

 destro}' his own fruit, and mj' prediction 

 proved true; for the same party that had 

 sprayed his trees at that time scarcely had 

 anj' sound fruit, while an orchard within a 

 stone's throw had hundreds of bushels of 

 fine matured fruit, and no spraying what- 

 ever had been done; so I guess there will 

 not be any more spraying done during full 

 bloom in this section. J. A. Goldkn. 



Reinersville, O., Aug. 6. 



IS HONEV-DEW SUITABLE FOR A WINTER 

 FOOD? 



"Will you kindly state whether it is pos- 

 tively known that honej^-dew is injurious to 

 winter bees on? There is considerable on 

 the beech-trees anJ saplings, and bers are 

 working on it at present. It is rather in- 

 teresting to watch the insects move around 

 on the trees, having what appears to be a 

 tail made of a bunch of cotton, and this the 

 air keeps in continual motion. I cut off a 

 beech-twig having on it a lot of the insects, 

 and the jarring of the twig brought down 

 minute drops of the slightly sticky fluid. 

 G. B. Weston. 



[Bees have been known to winter well on 

 hone_v-dew; but in view of the fact that this 

 food is quite liable to bring on dysenterj' in 

 the spring — is almost sure to — it would be 

 advisable to extract it out and give them 

 good food instead. I know of nothing bet- 

 ter or cheaper than a syrup made of granu- 

 lated sugar. Honey-dew will do very well 

 for stimulating in the spring after cold 

 weather is past. — Ed.] 



FEEDING OUTDOORS ; ROBBING, ETC. 



1. Would a swarm isolated a mile or so 

 from all others, fed in the open air, and not 

 placed in the bee-house until too cold for 

 robbing, be likely to begin robbing in the 

 spring? 



2. Does feeding from the Miller feeder 

 tend to promote robbing? 



3. Would it be detrimental to a swarm 

 to use fences similar to chose used between 

 plain sections, between the brood-combs 

 while they were being formed to insure their 

 straightness? A. V. Doud. 



Bristol, N. H., July 22. 



[1. A colon3' isolated a mile or so from 

 the others, and fed in the open air, would 

 not rob nor be the cause of robbing, either 

 at the time of being fed or in the following 

 spring. Even if the bees had been robbing 

 during the previous fall, the memorj' of their 

 previous experience would probably disap- 

 pear entirely the ensuing spring, even if a 



large proportion of the bees didn't die off. 

 But bees taught to rob any time during the 

 summer are liable to rob again in a short 

 time, because they will remember their ga- 

 la day of plunder, and they are quite apt to 

 go back to their old haunts where first they 

 discovered the booty. 



2. The Miller feeder does not »promote 

 robbing provided it does not leak and is not 

 filled too full. 



3. Fences such as are described can be 

 used for getting evenly drawn combs from 

 found ation. — Ed. ] 



WHEN TO TAKE OFF SUPERS; SYRUP, HOW 

 MAKE, ETC. 



There is considerable white clover in 

 bloom, and bees are swarming. How long 

 should I leave the supers on so that the 

 bees can gather enough for winter stores? 



What proportion of sugar and water 

 would you mix together to make a syrup to 

 feed for winter stores? 



When should one commence to feed for 

 winter, and how much in a day? 



How much sulphuric acid would you put 

 into a gallon of water to render^w-ax? Will 

 it corrode a brass kettle? 



L. H. LiNDEMUTH. 



Lehmaster, Pa., Aug. 14. 



[If you have been having white clover in 

 bloom, and bees are swarming at the date 

 of your letter, the condition is quite unusual 

 for this part of the country. As long as the 

 bees are storing hone3'^ in the supers, leave 

 them on, of course, but the minute they 

 stop, take off the finished sections at least, 

 otherwise they will be soiled. 



In feeding, use a mixture of sugar and 

 water, half and half, or a pail of water and 

 a pail of sugar by measure. The bees 

 should be fed up not later than October 1. 



The amount of sulphuric acid to use in 

 water to refine wax will depend upon how 

 dirty or discolored the wax is. The solu- 

 tion may be anywhere from one part of acid 

 to 50 or 100 parts of water. If the wax is 

 not very dirty, 200 parts of water to one of 

 acid will be sufficient. It is very seldom 

 that you would want to use a solution as 

 strong as one in fifty. If you use the 

 weaker solution it probably will not corrode 

 the kettle much; but when through using, 

 wash it out thoroughly with soapsuds and 

 hot water. — Ed.] 



Where does the bee carry its comb? Does 

 it carry any on its legs? When is the 

 proper time to add new queens to the colo- 

 ny, spring or fall? RoBT. Peterson. 



Carl Junction, Mo., Aug. 11. 



[Bees do not carry comb, but secrete the 

 wax for it between the scales on the under 

 side of the abdomen. It is then picked up 

 in the mandibles by other bees, and used 

 for comb-building. Pollen and sometimes 

 propolis are carried on the legs, and in 

 rare instances wax. A new queen usually 

 should be given to a colony after the main 

 honey- flow. — Ed.] 



